Somerset, Swansea officials addressing racial diversity insulation

Unlike neighboring Fall River, suburban towns and their school systems in Somerset, Swansea and Westport contrast sharply with a racial composition that’s stagnant and has little diversity.

Somerset, Swansea and Westport and their school systems' racial composition is stagnant and has little diversity.

The populations there remain mostly white. In the 2017-2018 school year, between 91 and 94.6 percent were Caucasian in the three towns.

That differs with a state population that is 60.1 percent white, a decrease from 76.6 percent during the 1999-2000 school year, according to Massachusetts Department of Education statistics.

Fall River’s white student population dropped from 81 percent to 53.5 percent during that same time period.

Somerset

“We are seeing a slight increase in the younger grades," Somerset Superintendent Jeff Schoonover said. "We probably have (younger) families moving into town who are Hispanic, multi-race, and African American.

“It is a slight difference, but there is this slight trend."

Over the last decade, Schoonover said, populations at the town's three elementary schools went from 96 percent to 90 percent white at Chace, 95 percent to 89 percent at South, 95 percent to 92 percent at North.

Somerset Berkley Regional High School is close to unchanged since regionalizing in 2011-2012: from 93.1 percent to 92.8 percent now.

In nearly 20 years, Somerset’s Hispanic population has grown to 4.4 percent, from zero. Just one-half of 1 percent are African-American.

In the 2010 census, 191 of the town’s 17,974 residents were of Hispanic or Latino origin. That’s just over 1 percent. In 2000, there was half that number. Fewer than 300 Somerset residents are non-white on the Census Viewer website.

Schoonover, in his fourth year, is a town resident raised in Fall River. He says this area is insulated when it comes to the racial changes in the state and the country.

Suburban communities closer to Providence, or Dartmouth or Bridgewater where there are universities, might have children of faculty and therefore more diversity in their schools, he said.

“We don’t have that particular draw near Somerset,” Schoonover said. “We’re a residential community. We don’t have a lot of businesses.”

Somerset has very few non-white teachers. A recently retired minority teacher, Sylvia Barber, who taught special education, brought her husband to speak in Somerset last year.

Norman Barber, a black professor of African studies at the University of Rhode Island, has spoken with faculty on several occasions “about the importance of understanding racial diversity,” Schoonover said.

“It was relevant. It was important. And it was very well received," Schoonover said.

He plans to bring Barber back. “I think we all need to have a better understanding of what it means for us as a public school district.”

They're aware of the racial contrast between their schools and students' next steps. “Even though 93 percent of Somerset Berkley Regional High School is white, they’re going to colleges that are not going to be 93 percent white,” Schoonover said.

Somerset Town Administrator Richard Brown said even in an insulated, predominately white town, “You deal with it in other ways.”

“Look at ‘Black Lives Matter.' People say it’s not happening here. But it can. There’s nothing to stop an African-American driver coming through our town and being stopped,” he said. He said the fire department performs considerable mutual aid in Fall River.

Brown said the police force – which is 100 percent white – is "constantly being trained and retrained” to understand racial and cultural differences that can come up working with the public in various situations.

“I think we’re aware of it,” Brown said of his public safety personnel and government department heads and staff.

“We’re constantly trying to increase their level of knowledge” to help compensate for the lack of direct contact with a diverse population, he said. “And I think it does matter.”

Swansea

“We talk a lot about acceptance in general, from the elementary schools through the high school,” Swansea Superintendent John Robidoux said.

He compares addressing racial equality to students with varied disabilities and special education needs. From participation in unified sports, to arts and the prom, he said, “what we strive for is so all students feel welcome … and included in the activities and culture of the school.”

That's reflected by the “We are all Cardinals” motto, said Robidoux, who has been superintendent and assistant superintendent the past five years.

Swansea’s white student population has nudged down very slightly – from 98.4 percent in 1999-2000 to 94.6 percent this year. About 1 percent of the students this school year are African-American or Asian and 1.8 percent Hispanic.

Robidoux said he believes housing and the school system drive young families into town.

For a few years the town had more racial diversity when the Swansea Motor Lodge was used as a state homeless shelter. There were far more students of color. Robidoux believes they were well received by students and staff.

“The biggest challenge for us was how long they were going to be here,” he said of students largely from the Brockton and Boston areas. The state eliminated the motel use a couple of years ago.

Westport

Westport’s diversity of students shows a change similar to Somerset’s. From a 98.3 percent white population in 2000, it’s now listed at 90.8 percent. Its Hispanic population has grown from 0.8 percent to 3.1 percent during that time. The number of African-American students has stayed well under 1 percent.

Email Michael Holtzman at mholtzman@heraldnews.com or call him at 508-676-2573.